Pics of new nano and new cheap DIY halide pendant!

[mharris7]

Hi guys,

My first post here! I know some of you guys from my brief stint at Austin Aquariums - sorry it took me so long to drop in on the boards.

I read about on another message board that you could take a cheap 500 watt halogen outdoor flood fixture and directly plug in a 70 watt halide into it. I happened to have a spare el cheapo catalina bulb laying around so I decided to give it a whirl. The results were so impressive I decided to set up a little 10 gallon nano for it as a home for my mantis and rogue neon dottyback who had been terrorizing my main tank.

[mharris7]

front view

[mharris7]

here's a front shot with a better view of the light

[mharris7]

now I'm stoked and am looking at buying more expensive bulbs, a skimmer, ect..... I don't know why I even bother with a wallet.

Plus now I gotta stock it with some corals... Maybe a small clam or two?

[PeeJ]

pretty awesome lookin

[MikeP]

Hey Mike that looks awesome. Where did you find the ballast and what was the make / part number of the pendant you used? I'm assuming you can get it locally?

[mharris7]

Hey Mike - how's it going?

I actually still have the box for the fixture - it's a Lumark LHQ500WL. It was about $10 at Home Depot. The metal halide bulbs are a bit wider than the quartz halogen, and there's a ridge next to the socket you might need to file down depending on which brand of bulb you get. It would take about 2 seconds with a dremel tool. I was able to lift the socket a little to give me enough clearance. I also drilled a couple of holes for eye loop bolts - most standard drill bits will go through the aluminum housing with no problem. It was very easy - I put the whole thing together in about 30 minutes, and most of that was hanging it. I also cut a couple loops off of the spring on the spring-loaded socket side with a pair of standard wire cutters for a little less resistance.

[mharris7]

here's a closer pic of the ballast - I got it off of ebay for ~$40

[mharris7]

total cost for the whole fixture including the bulb was about $75 - of course thats with a cheap $25 catalina bulb. A good ushio bulb will add about another $50 to the price.